Prospect Talent Score

Probability of Success

History

2011-12: Jakub Zboril played 35 regular season games with the Kometa Brno U18 team as a 14-year-old after appearing in two games with the squad the previous season. He scored 2 goals with 4 assists and was -1 with 69 penalty minutes. Kometa finished seventh in the Czech U18 league and lost in a preliminary series. Zboril had no points nor penalties in two playoff games. Zboril scored 4 goals with 11 assists and was +19 with 57 penalty minutes in 18 games with the Brno U16 team.

2012-13: Zboril spent the bulk of the season with the Kometa Brno U18 team, joining the club’s U16 during its playoff run to the Czech national championship. He played 23 games with the Czech Republic U17 team in international play. Zboril scored 4 goals with 7 assists and was -1 with 78 penalty minutes in 30 games, including three playoff contests, with the Kometa U18 team. He was +2 with 2 assists in one regular season game with the Kometa U16 team and scored 2 goals with 2 assists, finishing +5 with 12 penalty minutes, in five playoff games. Zboril scored 3 goals with 4 assists and was -4 with 28 penalty minutes playing for the Czech U17 team.

2013-14: Zboril skated for Kometa Brno’s U20 team as a 16-year-old and played for the Czech Republic in three tournaments — competing for the U19 team in the 2013 World Junior A Challenge and skating for the U18 squad in the 2013 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament and 2014 World Junior Championship. Zboril scored 5 goals with 16 assists and was +18 with 57 penalty minutes in 36 games for fourth-place Kometa Brno. Zboril played 12 games with the Kometa Brno U18 team, including 10 playoff games, and was +8 with 4 goals, 6 assists and 14 playoff games. He scored 1 goal in four games at the WJAC in Canada. Zboril had 3 assists and was +2 with 8 penalty minutes in seven games at the U18 WJC as the Czech Republic finished second, falling 5-2 to the USA in the gold medal game. Zboril scored 1 goal with 1 assist and was -1 with 4 penalty minutes in four games at the Ivan Hlinka tournament. He was selected by Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in the third round (115th overall) in the 2014 KHL Draft and taken by Saint John with the fifth overall pick in the 2014 CHL Import Draft.

2014-15: Zboril played for the Saint John Sea Dogs of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in his first season in North America — missing nearly eight weeks after suffering a knee injury in January 2015. He played for the Czech Republic U18 team in the 2014 Ivan Hlinka Memorial and 2015 World Junior Championship tournaments. Zboril scored 13 goals with 20 assists and was +2 with 73 penalty minutes in 44 regular season games for Saint John. The Sea Dogs finished third in the Maritimes Division; falling to Baie-Comeau in a first-round series. Zboril scored 1 goal with 2 assists and was -3 with 18 penalty minutes in five playoff games. He scored 4 goals with 2 assists and was -1 with 8 penalty minutes as the Czech Republic won a silver medal at the Ivan Hlinka Tournament. Zboril scored 1 goal with 1 assist and was +2 with 4 penalty minutes in three games at the WJC. He was named to Team Cherry for the 2015 CHL Top Prospects Game but missed the game due to his injury. Zboril was ranked 12th amongst North American skaters in the Central Scouting final rankings and was selected by Boston in the first round (13th overall) in the 2015 NHL Draft.

Talent Analysis

Zboril is one of the more NHL-ready defensemen playing in the CHL. The Czech native is a quick-moving skater who can get up and down the ice with ease and plays a sound defensive game. At 6’2” and 185 pounds, he doesn’t lack size and isn’t afraid to play a physical game. He is an above-average offensive defenseman at the junior level. Zboril owns a booming shot that can help a team’s power-play and is good at making proper outlet passes.

Future

Zboril is in his second season with the QMJHL's Saint John Sea Dogs in 2015-16 and played for the Czech Republic's U20 team at the 2016 World Junior Championship. After missing time at the beginning of the year due to an injury, he has been among the top defensemen in the league; frequently paired with Ottawa Senators' prospect Thomas Chabot. Not as flashy or offensively-inclined as Chabot, Zboril plays an NHL-style game and is considered close to being ready to play at that level.